LEWISTON, Maine — Authorities in Lewiston are investigating a late Monday afternoon blaze on Oxford Street.

The fire was reported at 5:08 p.m. at 32½ Oxford St. by an employee of Lewiston House of Pizza. Lewiston fire investigator Paul Ouellette said the cause of the fire was a burning log outside the back of the three-story, three-unit apartment building.

What caused the log to catch fire in the first place remained under investigation Monday night by Ouellette and a detective with the Lewiston Police Department.

“We’re looking for any evidence of anything — whether it be accidental or intentional,” Ouellette said.

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The fire started in a back corner of the building located just 20 inches away from neighboring 32 Oxford St. Ouellette said the blaze could have been much worse and quickly spread to the second building were it not for a piece of fencing between the two structures.

The fire started outside the apartment building, but quickly worked its way inside an exterior wall before it was extinguished by firefighters, according to Ouellette. He added that residents were also pouring buckets of water on the burning log from an open porch located above the enclosed porch that caught fire.

The fire was contained in a first-floor section of wall in the building owned by Raymond and Rolande Laliberte. There was no damage to the interior apartment of first-floor tenant Richard Nelson.